(OSV News) -- Kuwait's Catholics witnessed a historic moment as Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, presided over Mass at Kuwait's Our Lady of Arabia Church Jan. 16 as it was raised to a minor basilica.
The cardinal said that the church built on the desert stands is a reminder that "Mary herself once found refuge in those same desert lands."
The title of minor basilica that the church now holds is conferred on churches that have special liturgical or pastoral importance and stand out for their historical, spiritual, or architectural value.
In his homily, delivered to a congregation including local Catholics, politicians, diplomats, and representatives of the Kuwaiti Oil Company, Cardinal Parolin described the occasion of elevating the church to a minor basilica as "truly historic," not only "for the Church in Kuwait, but for the Church throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula."
"Built upon the sands of the desert," the cardinal said, "this basilica reminds us that Mary herself once found refuge in those same desert lands, where she cared for, raised, and safeguarded the one Mediator between God and the human family, Jesus Christ."
In the year 1948, a small group of Catholics -- foreigners who had recently arrived in Kuwait to work in the burgeoning oil industry -- opened a small chapel in Al-Ahmadi, the country's second city. Just a few years later, a church took its place and was decorated with an image of the Virgin Mary blessed by the pope himself.
As the oil industry took off, and ever greater numbers of foreign workers began to arrive in Kuwait, the church -- dedicated, as the original chapel had been, to Our Lady of Arabia -- continued to grow in importance.
The church was completed in 1957 "as a generous gift of the local donors, whose care and support for the church complex continue to this day," the Vatican Jan. 15 press release said.
Cardinal Parolin in Kuwait reflected on the day's Gospel reading, in which Jesus asks his disciples the "decisive question": "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
Reflecting back on the recently-concluded Christmas period, the cardinal stressed that "we cannot welcome the Child Jesus into our homes … unless we recognize his true identity and all that it implies."
Christians, he emphasized, "are called to recognize and bear witness that Jesus Christ is true God and true man."
In a joint Jan. 15 press release published by the Vatican, the State of Kuwait reaffirmed "its steadfast principles of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence among religions, which are values that are enshrined in its ideals from its inception and were later codified in its Constitution."
Christians now make up some 20% of Kuwait's population, although almost all are migrant workers without Kuwaiti citizenship.
The situation is similar in many other oil-rich Persian Gulf countries, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. Of these countries, Kuwait and Bahrain are unique in also having a small number of Christian citizens, almost all of them descendants of immigrants from Arab countries, such as Lebanon and Palestine, with sizable Christian populations.
Bringing his homily to a close, Cardinal Parolin asked for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, "Our Lady of Arabia, Patroness of the entire Peninsula that bears her name."
May she "guide us always to her Son," the cardinal prayed. "To her I entrust the protection of the State of Kuwait, its citizens, and all Christians."
During the Jan 14-16 visit of the Vatican's secretary of state, an official round of talks were held with Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, prime minister of Kuwait.
